# 2012 Women's European Water Polo Championship

The 2012 Women's European Water Polo Championship took place at the Pieter van den Hoogenband Swim Stadium in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, from January 18 to 28, 2012.
Italy won their fifth title by defeating Greece 13-10 in the final. Hungary captured the bronze medal after a 9-8 win over Russia.

## Road to the 2012 Olympics

The championships was part of the qualification procedure for the 2012 London Olympics that will take place in late July and early August of that year. There will be 8 women's teams in the Olympic competition.
By the time that these championships took place, three women's places have already been booked: the winner of the Pan American Games in Guadalajara (Mexico), the Australian team for Oceania (not contested) and the British team, as host nation.
As Great Britain women's team has been entered into the Olympic competition, there was not a direct entry to the Olympic tournament from the European Championships. Six women's teams will be entered into a world-wide qualifying competition from 1–8 April 2012 for men in Edmonton, Canada and from 15–22 April for women in Trieste (Italy). Four teams from this competition qualified for the Olympic tournament.

## Draw

The draw was held on November 12, 2011.

### Groups

| Group A | Group B |
| Netherlands Great Britain Hungary Russia | Greece Spain Germany Italy |

## Preliminary round

* Team advances to Semifinals
* Team advances to Quarterfinals

### Group A

All times are CET (UTC+1).
| | Team | G | W | D | L | GF | GA | Diff | Points |
| 1. | Russia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 29 | +9 | 9 |
| 2. | Hungary | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 37 | 29 | +8 | 6 |
| 3. | Netherlands | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 30 | 26 | +4 | 3 |
| 4. | Great Britain | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 25 | 46 | −21 | 0 |
| 18 January 2012 16:00 | Report | Great Britain | 9–19 | Hungary | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 350 Referees: Mauss (GER), Grandin (FRA) |
| Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 350 Referees: Mauss (GER), Grandin (FRA) |||
| 18 January 2012 16:00 | Report | McCann, Gisbon 2 | Goals | Keszthelyi 5 | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 350 Referees: Mauss (GER), Grandin (FRA) |
| 18 January 2012 19:00 | Report | Netherlands | 10–11 | Russia | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Koryzna (POL), Peris (CRO) |
| Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Koryzna (POL), Peris (CRO) |||
| 18 January 2012 19:00 | Report | van Belkum 6 | Goals | Lisunova 4 | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Koryzna (POL), Peris (CRO) |
| 20 January 2012 16:00 | Report | Russia | 15–10 | Great Britain | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 400 Referees: Mauss (GER), Alexandrescu (ROU) |
| Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 400 Referees: Mauss (GER), Alexandrescu (ROU) |||
| 20 January 2012 16:00 | Report | Fedotova 4 | Goals | three players 2 | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 400 Referees: Mauss (GER), Alexandrescu (ROU) |
| 20 January 2012 19:00 | Report | Hungary | 9–8 | Netherlands | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1,250 Referees: Stavridis (GRE), Gomez (ITA) |
| Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1,250 Referees: Stavridis (GRE), Gomez (ITA) |||
| 20 January 2012 19:00 | Report | Szűcs, Keszthelyi 2 | Goals | van Belkum 3 | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1,250 Referees: Stavridis (GRE), Gomez (ITA) |
| 22 January 2012 16:00 | Report | Netherlands | 12–6 | Great Britain | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1,700 Referees: Mauss (GER), Grandinf (FRA) |
| Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1,700 Referees: Mauss (GER), Grandinf (FRA) |||
| 22 January 2012 16:00 | Report | van Belkum 5 | Goals | McCann, Leighton 2 | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1,700 Referees: Mauss (GER), Grandinf (FRA) |
| 22 January 2012 17:30 | Report | Hungary | 9–12 | Russia | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Gomez (ITA), Brguljan (MNE) |
| Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Gomez (ITA), Brguljan (MNE) |||
| 22 January 2012 17:30 | Report | Keszthelyi 4 | Goals | Fedotova, Ivanova 3 | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Gomez (ITA), Brguljan (MNE) |

### Group B

All times are CET (UTC+1).
| | Team | G | W | D | L | GF | GA | Diff | Points |
| 1. | Greece | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 21 | +9 | 9 |
| 2. | Italy | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 42 | 33 | +9 | 6 |
| 3. | Spain | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 39 | 35 | +4 | 3 |
| 4. | Germany | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 30 | 52 | −22 | 0 |
| 18 January 2012 17:30 | Report | Spain | 22–12 | Germany | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 500 Referees: Dutilh (NED), Stajkovic (MKD) |
| Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 500 Referees: Dutilh (NED), Stajkovic (MKD) |||
| 18 January 2012 17:30 | Report | García 6 | Goals | Zöllner 3 | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 500 Referees: Dutilh (NED), Stajkovic (MKD) |
| 18 January 2012 20:30 | Report | Greece | 10–9 | Italy | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 600 Referees: Fekete (HUN), Detko (GBR) |
| Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 600 Referees: Fekete (HUN), Detko (GBR) |||
| 18 January 2012 20:30 | Report | Antonakou 3 | Goals | Abbate, Cotti 2 | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 600 Referees: Fekete (HUN), Detko (GBR) |
| 20 January 2012 17:30 | Report | Germany | 6–12 | Greece | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 800 Referees: Dutilh (NED), Koganov (AZE) |
| Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 800 Referees: Dutilh (NED), Koganov (AZE) |||
| 20 January 2012 17:30 | Report | Zollner 2 | Goals | Gerolymou 5 | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 800 Referees: Dutilh (NED), Koganov (AZE) |
| 20 January 2012 20:30 | Report | Italy | 15–11 | Spain | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 500 Referees: Peris (CRO), Brguljan (MNE) |
| Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 500 Referees: Peris (CRO), Brguljan (MNE) |||
| 20 January 2012 20:30 | Report | Emmolo 4 | Goals | Pareja 4 | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 500 Referees: Peris (CRO), Brguljan (MNE) |
| 22 January 2012 19:00 | Report | Germany | 12–18 | Italy | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 700 Referees: Stajkovic (MKD), Alexandrescu (ROU) |
| Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 700 Referees: Stajkovic (MKD), Alexandrescu (ROU) |||
| 22 January 2012 19:00 | Report | Blomenkamp 5 | Goals | Bianconi 4 | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 700 Referees: Stajkovic (MKD), Alexandrescu (ROU) |
| 22 January 2012 20:30 | Report | Greece | 8–6 | Spain | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Referees: Vogel (HUN), Levin (ISR) |
| Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Referees: Vogel (HUN), Levin (ISR) |||
| 22 January 2012 20:30 | Report | three players 2 | Goals | Tarrago 4 | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Referees: Vogel (HUN), Levin (ISR) |

## Final round
### Bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Gold medal match | Gold medal match | Gold medal match |
| | | | A1 | Russia | 12 | | | |
| B2 | Italy | 17 | B2 | Italy | 13 | | | |
| A3 | Netherlands | 15 | | | | B2 | Italy | 13 |
| | | | | | | B1 | Greece | 10 |
| | | | B1 | Greece | 14 | | | |
| A2 | Hungary | 11 | A2 | Hungary | 12 | | | |
| B3 | Spain | 9 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5th–6th place match | 5th–6th place match | 5th–6th place match | Bronze medal match | Bronze medal match | Bronze medal match |
| | | | A3 | Netherlands | 10 | A1 | Russia | 8 |
| | | | B3 | Spain | 11 | A2 | Hungary | 9 |

### Quarterfinals

All times are CET (UTC+1).
| 24 January 2012 19:00 | Report | Hungary | 11–9 | Spain | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 900 Referees: Spiegel (GER), Koryzna (POL) |
| Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 900 Referees: Spiegel (GER), Koryzna (POL) |||
| 24 January 2012 19:00 | Report | Szűcs 3 | Goals | Pareja, Peña 3 | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 900 Referees: Spiegel (GER), Koryzna (POL) |
| 24 January 2012 20:30 | Report | Italy | 17–15 | Netherlands | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Brguljan (MNE), Golijanin (SRB) |
| Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Brguljan (MNE), Golijanin (SRB) |||
| 24 January 2012 20:30 | Report | di Mario 5 | Goals | Vermeer, Klaassen 3 | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Brguljan (MNE), Golijanin (SRB) |

### Semifinals

All times are CET (UTC+1).
| 26 January 2012 18:00 | Report | Hungary | 12–14 | Greece | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 750 Referees: Peris (CRO), Levin (ISR) |
| Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 750 Referees: Peris (CRO), Levin (ISR) |||
| 26 January 2012 18:00 | Report | Szűcs, Bujka 3 | Goals | Roumpesi 5 | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 750 Referees: Peris (CRO), Levin (ISR) |
| 26 January 2012 20:00 | Report | Italy | 13–12 | Russia | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 900 Referees: Koryzna (POL), Teixido (ESP) |
| Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 900 Referees: Koryzna (POL), Teixido (ESP) |||
| 26 January 2012 20:00 | Report | di Mario 5 | Goals | Beliaeva 4 | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 900 Referees: Koryzna (POL), Teixido (ESP) |

### 7th place match

All times are CET (UTC+1).
| 24 January 2012 17:30 | Report | Great Britain | 13–11 | Germany | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 300 Referees: Dutilh (NED), Stajkovic (MKD) |
| Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 300 Referees: Dutilh (NED), Stajkovic (MKD) |||
| 24 January 2012 17:30 | Report | Snell 4 | Goals | Blomenkamp, Zöllner 3 | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 300 Referees: Dutilh (NED), Stajkovic (MKD) |

### 5th place match

All times are CET (UTC+1).
| 26 January 2012 16:00 | Report | Spain | 11–10 | Netherlands | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 900 Referees: Detko (GBR), Grandin (FRA) |
| Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 900 Referees: Detko (GBR), Grandin (FRA) |||
| 26 January 2012 16:00 | Report | López, Pareja 4 | Goals | Hakhverdian 3 | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 900 Referees: Detko (GBR), Grandin (FRA) |

### Bronze medal match

All times are CET (UTC+1).
| 28 January 2012 14:15 | Report | Hungary | 9–8 | Russia | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Bianchi (ITA), Mauss (GER) |
| Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Bianchi (ITA), Mauss (GER) |||
| 28 January 2012 14:15 | Report | Keszthelyi 5 Bujka 2 Szűcs, Takács 1 | Goals | Lisunova 3 Prokofyeva, Konukh, Belova, Tankeeva, Beliaeva 1 | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Bianchi (ITA), Mauss (GER) |

### Gold medal match

All times are CET (UTC+1).
| 28 January 2012 16:00 | Report | Greece | 10–13 | Italy | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1800 Referees: Brguljan (MNE), Golijanin (SRB) |
| Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1800 Referees: Brguljan (MNE), Golijanin (SRB) |||
| 28 January 2012 16:00 | Report | Asimaki 3 Roumpesi, Tsoukala, Gerolymou 2 Psouni 1 | Goals | Abbate, Bianconi 4 Casanova, Queirolo, Di Mario, Emmolo, Frassinetti 1 | Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven Attendance: 1800 Referees: Brguljan (MNE), Golijanin (SRB) |

## Final ranking

| Rank | Team |
| | Italy |
| | Greece |
| | Hungary |
| 4 | Russia |
| 5 | Spain |
| 6 | Netherlands |
| 7 | Great Britain |
| 8 | Germany |
* 2012 Women's European Water Polo champion
* Italy Fifth title

## Awards and statistics
### Top goalscorers

| Rank | Name | Team | Goals | Shots | % |
| 1 | Rita Keszthelyi | Hungary | 19 | 33 | 57.6% |
| 2 | Iefke van Belkum | Netherlands | 18 | 36 | 50% |
| 3 | Roberta Bianconi | Italy | 16 | 31 | 51.6% |
| 3 | Tania Di Mario | Italy | 16 | 36 | 44.4% |
| 5 | Jennifer Pareja | Spain | 15 | 28 | 53.6% |

## Individual awards

* Most Valuable Player
** Tania Di Mario (ITA)
* Top Scorer
** Rita Keszthelyi (HUN) — 19 goals